30/05/15….Two days after the gallery opening, I was still feeling the effects of a very enjoyable night but unfortunately I was now at the familiar “depression” stage. The large 80x60cm blank canvas I had bought for a nice big portrait was now the focus of capturing my mood so I painted this… By the evening I felt ok and set about throwing a load of reds, oranges and yellows down in circles like an archery board. I then loaded my brush and began flicking from the centre of the circle outwards to create an explosive effect (I was in an aggressive, destructive mood). When I’d finished, the ‘explosion’ appeared to me more like a wild-haired ginger girl from above. So I added a bit of flesh… (31/05/15) Called this one complete after no more than 5 hours work overall. Once I had finished, I burst out laughing at what I had created entirely from my own mind and feelings without copying or reference to any image at all. It was a very therapeutic, interesting experiment and the untitled piece has really brightened up the studio!…

I’m not pro Beatles, I’m not anti Beatles. I was just more of a Stones fan. But if I’m going to paint any Beatles pictures then they have to have meaning and be powerful. This one is right up my street, again featuring a placard that can be tailored towards the individual’s needs!

(26/05/15) 45mins…
(27/05/15) 2hours30…

(01/05/15) 4hours…

(08/05/15) I just wasn’t feeling this piece at all. I tried but unfortunately I am not passionate enough to do a Beatles-themed painting just because it’s likely to sell well. Instead, this piece will now become something completely different…

Opening this Thursday is a brilliant little new gallery full of character and it will be home to four of my original paintings where they will go on sale (along with prints of each piece also available)…

(Click to enlarge)

To say I’m both flattered and excited is an understatement! What a week it’s been

WOW! What an amazing 72 hours! I thought this week was going well when I got accepted to have my work featured for the first time in a gallery/exhibition but today has been even better!

In midweek I posted on my “Icon Art” Facebook page an advert telling people that my latest prints will be on sale at a couple of art markets I’m doing this weekend, three of which I personalised to tie in with the Liverpool ‘Sound City’ event that begins this weekend. Seeing this, an old friend from my musician days, Tony Donaghey (who runs the Liverpool Bands website/Facebook page), suggested I somehow get one of these prints signed by the musicians performing and then auction it off for charity. Great idea in theory i thought but couldnt see it happening, especially given that this Facebook conversation was taking place only YESTERDAY evening!

However, this morning I saw I had a few messages and comments and, thanks to Tony and another mate Joel Goldberg (well-known musician from that talented Liverpool musical ‘Goldberg’ family) who tagged in the CEO of Liverpool’s Sound City on my post, I got a message from the man himself – David Pichilingi!

(Facebook post – click to enlarge)

So, I excitedly jumped up and straight away set to work on personalising the last blank print of “Homesick Bob” I had, with something simple that would allow as many autographs to fit on as possible…

30 mins later it was done, and signed/dated on the reverse…

(Print painted – click to enlarge)

With a quick check of the Sound City conference schedule today and the location, I jumped in the car and set off.

At about 12:30pm I was in the Titanic Hotel and after a quick 10 minute scout around in various rooms, I found the man I was looking for. David Pichilingi. CEO of Sound City. And what a bloody nice bloke he is too! For someone so important and considering it is such an obviously busy time for him, David was so down to earth and was more than happy to oblige my request. What a top lad!…

(Handing over to David Pichilingi today – click to enlarge)

Now it’s a case of waiting to see who they can get to sign the piece and then the next stage will be sorting the auction out. 100% of the proceeds are going to David’s recommended charity, the children’s hospice Claire’s House (www.claire-house.org.uk). Fantastic cause. Brilliant stuff this! Updates to follow…

Tuesday 26th May…

So I spoke to David on the phone this morning and what he told me brought the biggest smile to my face – he said that the first performer they got to sign the print was none other than the headline act, Flaming Lips’ lead singer Wayne Coyne. This was the autograph I REALLY wanted to see on my work but didn’t have the nerve to request it when I handed the print over to David, so when he went on to tell me that Wayne decided to add his own artistic flair all over the piece, my smile doubled! I cannot wait to see how it looks!!! Picking it up tomorrow. In the meantime, I’ve had some good ideas about the auction.

Wednesday 27th May…I called in to the Sound City office today and David revealed this…

The next step now is deciding on the best way to auction this unique piece of Memorabilia and begin the publicising process. Updates to follow…

Tuesday 09th June…
It has been decided that to reach a wider audience, Ebay is the best way to maximise exposure and hopefully make some good money for Claire’s House. The 5-day auction will go live on Sunday 14th June at 7pm and will finish on Friday 19th June at 7pm…

(click to enlarge)

Links will be posted when the auction goes live. More updates to follow…

Monday 15th June…
The bidding opens at 50p!…

(click to enlarge)

HERE IS THE LINK TO THE EBAY AUCTION PAGE: (copy and paste into your browser)…

Friday 19th June…
SOLD! After promising early bidding midweek (probably a result of my regular bombardment/promotion/social networking!) the last few mins of the auction were a bit of an anti-climax in truth, only raising the final total to £46.00. Still, it’s better than nothing but someone has got a real steal there!…

(click to enlarge)

As soon as the fee is paid and the print is on it’s way to the lucky bidder, I will be taking a cheque to the Allerton Rd branch of Claire’s House, where I called in midweek to let them know what was happening. Photos/update to follow…

Thursday 25th June…
ALL DONE! Went down on Tuesday morning and told the lady I have a cheque to donate – I half filled in the donation form as instructed and she said she’d do the rest. And that was the end of this great journey! If I am honest, I was expecting a greater reaction than what I got but then I realised that charity is not done for our own rewards.

(click to enlarge)

And I can now reveal that, the bidder who won the item was bidding on my behalf. YES THAT’S RIGHT! I TOLD YOU I WANTED IT!! Of course I would have happily not won the auction if the bids were a lot higher but there we are.
Big, big thanks to everyone who got involved, who shared my Facebook posts, retweeted my tweets and generally spread the word. We can all give ourselves a pat on the back that we’ve contributed to a great charity. Here’s to the next one!

I said I’d do this back in January 2014 in honour of “Trigger” actor Roger Lloyd Pack who died that month. I didn’t get round to it because the image in black and white just wouldn’t have done the scene justice, and I was only brave enough to paint in black and white back then. But now that I’m experimenting with colours, and also having a go at selling at the arts and crafts markets too, the timing couldn’t be more perfect to tackle this classic “Only Fools and Horses” scene at last!

Working on this and “Brown Man’s Fear” at the same time as they are both being painted on only 16″ x 12″ box canvases…

(24/04/15) 1 hour…

(26/04/15) 2hrs…

(27/04/15) 4hrs30…

(28/04/15) 6hrs30…

(01/05/15) 9hrs…

(04/05/15) 11hrs…

(10/05/15) 17hrs estimated (lots over the weekend in bursts)…

(12/05/15) Completed, not sure exactly how long it’s taken. Somewhere between 22-25 hours I’m guessing. The slightly out of focus original image has contributed to the level of detail/quality of this piece but I think overall it’s ok…

I am really, really looking forward to finally getting out there and trying to sell my work this Saturday at The Old Police Station, Lark Lane in Liverpool. I’ve wanted to do something like this for ages, I think it’s the “Del Boy” in me! Even if I don’t sell one single print I am just going to be happy that I’m finally having a real go at this game at last!

Following on from the last painting, I thought I’d continue with the music video theme. The orchestral intro to this Ian Brown song, coupled with the clever song lyrics, make “Fear” a great song and combined with the video it’s a true work of art.

I watched the video on YouTube and took a screen grab of the particular shot I wanted to paint…

(20/04/15) An hour to start with…

(23/04/15) 3hrs45…

(27/04/15) 4hrs30…

(30/04/15) 7hrs…

(05/05/15) 9hrs30. Started the face from scratch again…

(19/05/15) Completed after approximately 17-18hrs. Really took a good few goes to capture the likeness!…

It’s coming up to 2 years since I started painting and, since I walked out of my job on Tuesday, I will have plenty of time to work on my biggest piece yet – on 20″ x 24″ canvas, I am replicating a photo of Bob Dylan on a shoot of his “subterranean homesick blues” video.

I chose this theme for its similarity to the “Love Actually” piece I completed recently, with the potential for each print to contain a personalised message on the card they are both holding. The difference with this one is that, once it’s finished, I also intend to reproduce the image numerous times on one canvas print with the lyrics to the song printed on each card (as depicted in the video). I am genuinely excited by this project, it’s more than just another painting.

It’s also pretty relevant given that Bob was my idol when I started singer-songwriting and my whole lifestyle then was pretty primitive, revolving around creating and expression rather than working and earning – a lifestyle I have chosen to return to with my decision to walk out of work this week.

(11/03/2015) approximately an hour of drawing…

(12/03/2015) 2hrs15…

(15/03/2015) 3hrs15…

(16/03/2015) 5hrs…

(17/03/2015) 6hrs45…

(18/03/2015) 8hrs15…

(20/03/2015) 10hrs15…

(27/03/2015) 13hrs15…

(28/03/2015) 14hrs30…

(31/03/2015) 16hours…

(01/04/2015) 17hours30…

(03/04/2015) 19hrs30…

(12/04/2015) Finally completed after about 29-30 hours! The writing on the sign took ages because I painted on the “Get Born” message initially but it didn’t do anything for me so it then took a few coats to paint over it and start again. I watched the full “Subterranean Homesick Blues” video a couple of times to find another more meaningful message to paint on (where Bob’s hands are also similarly positioned) and I got lucky – this message is much more cryptic (at least my reasons for using it are anyway)…

I think it was seeing Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) in that golden metal bikini in ‘Star Wars – Return Of The Jedi’ that gave 6 or 7 year old me his first feelings of, ahem, “amoré” shall we say?
I chose this piece because I am a little tired of drawing male icons and want to get back into painting classy, sexy female icons. No other real reason. I’ll start it this week sometime.

With this one, I am trying a new technique I picked up from one of the girls on Sky’s “Portrait Artist of The Year” to try and save time. Using the cropping grid on my iPad and then taking a screen shot, I have then been able to draw equivalent grid lines on my paper to aid in getting proportions right in the early stages (instead of my usual ‘throw the paint on and shape/position it better with each sitting!’). We’ll see how it goes, bearing in mind it’s a relatively minimal content so it should be done a lot quicker anyway.

This scene from cult chick-flick “Love Actually” does my head in because it’s the kind of thing I’d do myself, although not if it was my mate’s girlfriend! If she was single and fair game then yes.

Anyway, it’s still a great romantic scene and, looking at this purely from a commercial point of view, a painting of a scene like this should always sell, be it Valentines day, Christmas, birthdays etc.
So that’s my excuse for painting it. Commercialism. No other reason. Honestly.